Gregg Popovich says he was 'dumbfounded' attempting to explain the death of George Floyd to his 8-year-old granddaughter
- Gregg Popovich said he struggled with how to handle explaining the death of George Floyd to his eight-year-old granddaughter.
- Speaking with Steve Kerr and Pete Carroll, Popovich said that his granddaughter had slipped into the room as he was watching the news earlier in the week and seen the video of Floyd's death.
- "I was dumbfounded. I turned it off. And then I thought, should I have left it on?" Popovich said.
- Ultimately, Popovich, Kerr, and Carroll agreed that education would be a key tool in moving forward, as would a more honest recognition of the racist history of the country and the disparities that still exist today.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich says he struggled to explain the death of George Floyd to his granddaughter after she saw the video on the news.
Floyd died last week after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes as Floyd pleaded for his life. Since then, the video of his death sparked ongoing protests and demonstrations across the country.
As Popovich told fellow coaches Steve Kerr and Pete Carroll on their podcast, "Flying Coach," he was "dumbfounded," trying to explain what had happened to his granddaughter after she had seen the video of Floyd's death.
"I was in the TV room the other day with my eight-year-old granddaughter," Popovich said. "I was watching the news, and she happened to walk in, and it was the exact time when they were replaying this policeman with his knee on George Floyd's neck."
"I didn't realize she was there, and I turned, and I saw her standing there, and she was just staring, and she said 'Poppy, why does that man have his knee on that man's neck? What is he doing?'"
"I was dumbfounded," Popovich said. "I turned it off. And then I thought, should I have left it on? And explained it to her? How do I explain it to her now that I have turned it off? I made some feeble attempt, but I didn't know how far to go, how deep to go, what age is it, is she ready or not ready? And I thought, wow, that's a problem for me."
"And then I thought, what about a black family? Do you think they have a problem talking to their kids, and figuring out what's going on here?"
Through the conversation with Kerr and Carroll, the three coaches all agreed that education and an acknowledgment of the racist history of the United States of America would be an important step in the process of moving forward towards a more equal society.
"It's so convoluted and complicated," Popovich said. "Everything sort of fades away if we don't have that initial admission. That sorrowful recognition of what went on in the past and what has continued. And I don't know how many people are able to do it, but even if they were the most selfish people in the world, it's for their benefit too, even if it's for the wrong reasons."
Listen to the entire conversation between Kerr, Carroll, and Popovich here.
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